Sammie Lee Hill And Ropati Pitoitua Brought In To Help Run Defense Improve

Both of these players have yet to reach their full potential.They were brought in because getting bigger along the line is a priority for the defense this season.Pitoitua is 6ft8in 315 pounds has been in the league for four seasons and last season was his best so far as he had 51 tackles with two sacks and one forced fumble for Kansas City.Sammie Lee Hill has also been in the league four years and is 6ft4in 330 pounds and is a bigger interior defender than Casey,Martin and Klug.Hill is a solid space eater who has deceptive quickness and can get to the passer as a pass rusher and has chalked up 17 quarterback hurries.Hill was stuck behind Suh and Fairley in Detroit.I think both of these players will help the run defense get much better.

I'm ready to see us get back to the days where we were always stuffing runners at the line and not letting them gain much yardage.Its been hell the last few seasons watching us get gashed time and time again as runners just seemed to break through for big gains.

It'll be interesting to see what the coaching staff does with Pitoitua. He might be a liability on passing downs so it may be hard to find him a lot of snaps. Especially if we sign another DE like Abraham. Our 2 starters, Abraham, and Edwards will give us a pretty deep rotation. At DT you have Hill, Casey, Martin, Johnson (not expecting that much), and Klug (strictly pass rusher). So it's going to be hard to find this guy many snaps. I think he's clearly a depth/injury insurance signing. He'll get on the field a few times but won't really be an impact player imo.

Don't know how he'll pan out on our line, but Hill was one of the worst run stoppers in the league last season. On 170 running plays, he had 11 tackles. True, he isn't as talented a pass rusher as Suh, and not as effective a run stopper as Fairley, but I hate to think he could take snaps away from Martin who I believe may have more upside. Hopefully, Hill can play like he used to and we have an effective rotation on the line like we used to. I don't want to see Hill become our new Marks.

Don't know how he'll pan out on our line, but Hill was one of the worst run stoppers in the league last season. On 170 running plays, he had 11 tackles. True, he isn't as talented a pass rusher as Suh, and not as effective a run stopper as Fairley, but I hate to think he could take snaps away from Martin who I believe may have more upside. Hopefully, Hill can play like he used to and we have an effective rotation on the line like we used to. I don't want to see Hill become our new Marks.

And the 3 years before that he had graded out as a positive run stuffer by PFF. Hill
is a good player that had been buried by great talent and will be a big addition to our line. His job will be to take double teams and push that pocket for Martin and Casey and nothing I've seen has told me he will not be able to do that.

Pitoitua plays primarily defensive end but can shift inside when needed. He is most effective against the run, where his big frame can clog up lanes and free up linebackers and other linemen.

“He’s a big man,” Titans defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said. “He can be a good run stopper for us and a ball disruption guy with his height." “With a big man like that, it’s now getting all that body going in the right direction,” Rocker said. “Stepping with the correct foot, placing your hands, things like that. He’s so long. He’s gangly.”

And the 3 years before that he had graded out as a positive run stuffer by PFF. Hill
is a good player that had been buried by great talent and will be a big addition to our line. His job will be to take double teams and push that pocket for Martin and Casey and nothing I've seen has told me he will not be able to do that.

I'm excited to see what our D-Line is about this season. We more than made up for Marks and I'm excited to see what Martin can do in his 2nd year. We've got a ton of depth going into the season so I see Hill playing quite a bit, but don't know Pitoitua will fit into our rotation.

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